


Road to Discovery

by High_Flyer2001



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Sexual Assault, Bruises, Chases, Chest Binding, Comfort/Angst, Crying, Crying Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Hiding Medical Issues, It’s Levi what did you expect, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Has PTSD, Levi’s Past, Light Angst, M/M, Men Crying, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Out of Character, Out of Character Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Pain, Panic Attacks, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Hatred, Swearing, Trans Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Trans Male Character, Transgender, Transgender Levi, Underground Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Vulgar Language, Young Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), binding, female to male, unsafe binding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:35:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/High_Flyer2001/pseuds/High_Flyer2001
Summary: The Underground was a difficult place to survive in, it was common place to witness murders or attacks- Levi knew this, he’d grown up with it. However, it was even harder to survive when every movement sent a spike of pain through your torso.ORTrans!Levi and his story running from being a thug in the Underground to “Humanity’s Strongest Solider.”
Relationships: Furlan Church & Levi & Isabel Magnolia, Furlan Church & Levi Ackerman, Kenny Ackerman & Levi, Kuchel Ackerman & Levi, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Male Character(s), Levi Ackerman & Isabel Magnolia
Comments: 30
Kudos: 128





	1. A Tough Start

**Author's Note:**

> First Attack on Titan Fic!!! It probably won’t be 100% canon but I’ve tried my hardest to keep it that way. The idea spawned when i thought “hmm Levi has a lot of ‘Bad Bitch Energy’... wait a minute” so this was born.
> 
> Enjoy!

Living in the Underground was difficult to say the least, food was a rarity, you life was constantly in danger no matter who you were and fun was practically illegal. Life hated you no matter how old you were, the elderly got thrown aside by the younger generations and the youngsters fought tooth and nail daily to live... nobody won down in that hell hole.

Leah was young when she realised she wasn’t a she at all, when she realised she was born in the wrong body. She never liked her hair long and her fingers would always itch for the scissors when it began to brush her shoulders but she would always will herself to keep it long for her mother. Whenever she came home from a rough day with a client, which were most days, she would run her hands through her hair and she would even sometimes braid it, relaxing them both in the process.

She could remember how happy her mother had been to have “a little princess to spoil” but she never understood it really. However, Leah never told her of her discomfort in her body- she was sad enough as it was.

She wasn’t a stupid child, she had a rough understanding of her mother’s job. She had “clients” and they would give her money so she would spend time with them- it didn’t seem too bad and he didn’t understand why she would never tell her how her day went but she never pressed, she cared for her daughter and spoiling “her princess” seemed to cheer her up so she always let it be. She also didn’t miss the looks the men would give them when they made their way through the streets.

When his mother was working Leah would stay with their neighbour, a lady younger than her mother but she knew she had the same job as her. Every so often when she sat on her bed waiting to go home she would stare at Leah with pity in her eyes.

“What ever you do dear, make sure you don’t follow in Kuchel’s footsteps... by whatever means necessary and if a man tries to touch you kick him between his legs and run as fast as you can, okay?” Leah could only nod, not really understanding what she was talking about but she filled the advice away for later. Any advice was useful in the Underground.

xXx

Leah was six when her mother started to feel ill, she told her it was nothing to worry about but she saw the way her cheeks bones were becoming more prominent and her eyes were sinking back into her skull and something deep in the back of her young mind whispered that she wouldn’t last long- she sadly had to agree.

Soon enough her mother didn’t even have the energy to leave her bed and all Leah could do was sit by her head and count her raspy breaths. Because she was bed bound she couldn't work and no work meant no money... so no food. It only took a couple of days for her to fade away until her breathing stopped altogether, encasing the room in a early silence.

“Mum? Wake up please” she stood next to her, lightly poking her arm, she got no response at all.

She didn’t know what to do so she sat by her bed, pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her head. She didn’t cry, she couldn’t afford to waste the liquid.

Leah could do nothing but sit there and wait, for what? She didn’t know but she waited. She felt so lost, it had just been her and her mother against the world for so long but now she was suddenly thrown into the deep end with no hand to hold- it scared her shitless.

After almost a week of sitting there a man entered the room, he was tall with a stern face and his body was hidden by a long coat. He sucked in a breath when he saw her mother- she held an almost skeletal appearance now, she looked nothing like she should have, Leah hardly recognised her.

“You Kuchel’s kid?” The man’s raspy voice questioned, all Leah did was nod not trusting her voice “You gotta name?” Yes she does have a name but it’s not the one meant for her. Leah was too lady-like as the other women would say, one even said it was “a good name to get clients” whatever that meant, maybe this was her chance to give herself a name that reflected who she’s meant to be... she felt giddy at the thought.

“I ain’t got all day, kid” the man prompted.

She lifted her eyes from the floor to stare into the man’s eyes “my name... is... Levi” yes that felt right, for the first time in her short life it suddenly felt right to say her own name. Maybe she could finally ditch the “she” too, now that was an exciting thought.

“Right then Levi, name’s Kenny, lets get going.”

Levi had to suppress a grin as she jogged after the man, she paused to lay one last goodbye kiss on her mother’s forehead and pulled the blanket over her face...

At least one of them managed to escape this hell hole.

xXx

Levi had been with Kenny for four years, in that time the older man had referred to him as “he” because he didn’t know any didn’t know any different, after all he had introduced himself as “Levi, Kuchel’s son” and Kenny had no reason to question it. He had learnt everything he needed to know, by no means was Kenny a good man but he was smart and did what ever he needed to do to survive in the Underground- a ten year old Levi could respect that.

He had learnt several things from Kenny over the years, the most useful ones were: how to defend himself, how to ration his food and most importantly, how to pickpocket.

They were walking through a busy street when Kenny subtly pointed out a man up ahead, Levi understood the implications- pick pocket the man so they could eat tonight. Pretty simple, he was fairly small for a ten year old, a mixture of a naturally slim figure (which he despised) and inadequate nutrition but it worked in their favour.

He stalked the man for a couple of minutes and saw his opening when the stranger stopped by a stall, he approached his newest victim’s back like a cat and quickly swiped his wallet from his back pocket- it was pretty heavy so a god catch, his hopes rose at the thought of warm food tonight.

All hopes crashed to the floor when he felt a rough hand grasp his wrist, he was forced to spin to come face to face with the man he just robbed.

“What do ya think ya doin’ ya little shit?” The man shouted, his face twisted in anger. All Levi could do was try to tug his hand away, he slightly panicked when the grip only tightened. The man’s shouts caused a few heads to turn but most went on with heir day- stuff like this wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary “ya gonna come with me kid and I’ll teach ya some manners, ey?”

Levi saw red and he dropped the wallet, reached down into his boot and pulled his knife out. He hooked his foot around the man’s ankle and tugged causing the fat bastard to tumble to the floor.

“Why ya little-“ before he could finish his insult he had a knife was in his abdomen, Levi locked eyes with him before he removed the knife only to watch the man squirm. He spun on his heels and left him- he had it coming anyway what did he expect? He retrieved his wallet before making his way back to Kenny, excited to show him the wallet. That’s when he realised he couldn’t find him.

The blood pounded in his ears, his heart pounded against his ribs painfully. His hands shook, his feet tingled and his vision became disfigured, like his eyes had been covered by a film. He had to find Kenny, he couldn't stay here, he’d just killed a man! He clutched his bloody knife and his wallet against his boney chest in a desperate attempt to ground himself.

That’s when he saw Kenny, well Kenny’s back as he walked away from him- he opened his mouth to call for him before promptly closing it again, he suddenly understood. He had killed a man, he could take care of himself... it didn’t matter his age, kids just learning to walk could be found fending for themselves down here. He was to lucky to have had a mentor for this long.

With that he composed himself and turned away from his mentor. He’d have to learn how to keep himself alive. 

He would survive.

xXx

Levi was now fifteen and he was still alive... somehow, if he was to be honest he was shocked he hadn’t caught a disease yet with how many rats he saw daily. It was a regular day for him, he was making his way back “home” from the market, he’d managed to steal a rather expensive watch from some Military Police dickhead so he traded that for a decent bag of food- he’d hide most of it under a floorboard in the room a little old lady gave him (she saw him in the streets and took pity on him, a stupid move on her part but he wasn’t going to pass up on such a good offer).

He decided to cut through an alleyway, he wouldn’t normally but there was a lot of MPs out and he didn’t fancy being pushed around or having his food taken, so he took the shortcut.

His nose instinctively wrinkled when he saw the grime that covered the floor, this place was disgusting, if he ever got out he’d make sure he never saw another speck of dirt ever again- that would be the day, there was only one way to escape this place and he was determined to go down fighting.

Suddenly, he heard a groan from his left and he swivelled to face whatever made the noise, he spotted a man slumped against the wall, the amount of bottles scattered around his legs let Levi know how blackout drunk the man was, he didn’t worry about him as he continued on his way- the man could hardly keep his head up. The Underground was quite obviously under the rest of the city so the residents had no idea if it was day or night, there was a “concept” though and Levi could always tell if the imaginary sun was going down when the market’s stalls began to close down for the “night”. It’s not a perfect system by any means but it worked for the low-lifes that relied on it.

He was yanked from his thoughts when he felt an arm loop around his front and throw him into a filthy wall, his eyes flick up and he realised its that drunkard from before- he could smell the pungent stench of alcohol on his breath when he groans out a rough “Hey, baby.”

Levi placed his hands on the man’s shoulders and shoved, all the man did was grab his wrists with rough, sweaty hands and slam Levi’s slim body against the wall harshly, the jolt caused him to drop the bag of food- shit he needed that food.

“What a pretty little thing ya are” the man mumbled into his neck Levi shuddered as he felt awful hot breath against his neck “oh, ya enjoyin’ this sweetheart?”

“No! Get the fuck off me!” He retorted and began to squirm, trying to escape the man’s hold, the man’s response was to pin his legs against the wall with his thicker ones, fucking perfect. Smelly Breath began to lick his neck and Levi felt absolutely disgusted, he tried his best to keep struggling but he unconsciously froze when he felt a hand at the hem of his shirt.

If he could’ve just reached the knife in his boot he could have given the sicko what he deserved and be on his way but he couldn’t move his limbs- he was frozen and helpless.

He shuddered when he felt that vile hand slide it’s way up his stomach to his chest, he nearly threw up when that hand gripped his chest.

“Ya were just askin’ for it ya little slut, weren’t ya? Walkin’ round with ya top stuck to ya chest, no sane man could resist ya” Levi was still stuck in place but he did feel his eyes begin to well up and his heart hammered against his chest so hard it hurt. The tears fell freely down his cheeks when that fucking hand started fondling his chest “what a good little girl” the man slurred.

“I’m a guy!” He protested through his tears. The man just chuckled and leant his full weight on him “this chest says otherwise, sweet cheeks.” Without another word the creep slid his hand down to his lower back (keeping the other firmly on his wrists) and tugged him forward until their hips met, a low groan came from the bastard as he started to use Levi to get himself off.

Levi looked up at the roof, wishing it was stars rather than dirt. His thoughts drifted to his mother, she was a beautiful woman, he could understand why the men liked her so much. The longer he lived on his own the better he understood the world, and it didn’t take him long to figure out what his mother’s job was, he became thankful that she constantly found babysitters for him and did her best to shelter him from the horrors of life- just a shame Kenny wasn’t so kind. 

Now he understood what his neighbour meant all those years ago “What ever you do dear, make sure you don’t follow in Kuchel’s footsteps... by whatever means necessary and if a man tries to touch you kick him between his legs and run as fast as you can”, his eyes widened with a thought.

Without even thinking about what the pervert was doing he used a sudden burst of energy to dislodge a knee before thrusting it skywards into the guy’s crotch. The man grunted and doubled over in pain.

Levi didn’t even look back when he sprinted from that alleyway and made his way home. He ran until his feet started to go numb but eventually he made it back to the lady’s house, after he slammed the door closed he slid into a corner and curled into himself. He could feel those grimy hands still dripping his chest and he felt disgusting, vile and absolutely horrified with himself.

He couldn’t wash, water was too precious and should be used for drinking only, so he did the only thing he could think of, he curled up in a ball and sobbed his heart out.

xXx

It took some convincing but he managed to borrow some clippers and scissors from the lady’s neighbour in exchange for a couple of slices of slightly mouldy bread, not a bad exchange. It took him longer than he would’ve liked but eventually he ended up with short hair along the bottom of his head with longer on the top- it was a huge improvement from the mop he had before hand and gave his face a more “manly” shape.

Now, Levi was stood in topless front if the only mirror in the lady’s apartment, he just glared at his reflection, the cracks made it seen like his body was far more disfigured than it actually was. A week after the alleyway issue he could still feel those disgusting hands on his chest.

He dragged his eyes over his body and almost instantly felt the urge to vomit. His skin was ghostly pale which was expected, they didn’t exactly see much sun down there, even those with naturally dark skin began to pale after a few years. What really disgusted him was the shape of his torso, his shoulders were thin and slight, his waist was ridiculously narrow whilst his hip bones jutted out. That wasn’t too bad- it gave him the advantage when it came to stealth but nothing more, what he seriously despised was his chest, that man was right he had a fucking girl’s chest and it was hideous. 

After wearing the same shirt for almost three years, he had grown into it and, despite his skeletal appearance, his shirt clung to his figure and highlighted those hideous features- fucking perfect.

He needed to get rid of those fucking breasts, he decided to call them what they were- fucking breasts and he hated them.

There was no way to get rid of them permanently, any sort of improvised operation would almost certainly end in him contracting some sort of deadly infection and he wanted to go down fighting goddammit! He refused to die because of germs.

A temporary solution would have to do, he made his way over to the loose floorboard by his “bed” and yanked it up to reveal his collection of items: stale food, the knife Kenny gave him and a very small first aid kit. He spied the bandaged and an idea came to his head. After grabbing the bandages he replaced the board and went back to the cracked mirror, with that he began to wrap his chest in the bandages, making sure to pull them tight enough.

Eventually, he was done so he pulled his shirt back on and admired his new physique- he now had a perfectly flat “masculine” chest and he fucking loved it. Yes, it was slightly more difficult to breath but apart that he felt amazing! Despite the ache in his ribs, he could breath easier than he had in years. 

With the combination of a manly torso and the shorter hair he felt like he could rule the world!

For the first time in his life he felt completely and utterly... right.

xXx

Being alone in the Underground had its advantages like only needing to fend for yourself and not having anyone to hold you back, but there were also the disadvantages like having the clean and stitch your own wounds, but also the lonely nights were heart wrenching. Levi didn’t know what it was like to have companions, that is until Isabel and Farlan came along. They were the first people he had allowed to get close to him and to begin with he regretted it (it was like baby sitting), but as they grew closer he couldn’t imagine life without them.

He was older than both of them, this lead to him and Isabel developing a sibling like relationship, every-time she called him “bro” he revelled in it. Farlan was more the voice of reason, he definitely looked up to Levi and admired his skill in combat, he respected the decisions the raven made for them. 

Overall, they worked well as a team.

The two had no clue about Levi’s ‘true nature’ and he was happy about that. Every time he looked in that fucking cracked mirror he felt a streak of self hatred pierce his heart, they needed him to be someone strong to look up to, if they found out he feared their view of him would change and even though he was used to being alone his heart dropped at the thought of being without them, they were family- he couldn't loose another family. So he kept his chest bandaged at all times and simply ground his teeth together to get himself through the pain and waved off any questions they had about his short breaths.

Levi had locked himself in the bathroom (the lady who he used to live with died and he had fought tooth and nail to keep the apartment), his ribs ached and his chest was covered with purple and yellow bruises that hurt like a bitch but he continued to re-bandage his chest. That was when Isabel and Farlan burst through the front door.

“Hey big bro! Come look what we swiped!” He squinted at Isabel’s screech and replied with a quick “give me a sec” before finishing his bandages off, he wheezed slightly when he tightened them like a corset. When he finally emerged from the bathroom he saw Farlan in the corner grinning sheepishly, and Isabel motioning to the table in a “ta-da” motion.

He froze when his eyes flicked to the table and saw three sets of ODM gear, straps and all laid there... what the fuck?

“Where did you get this?” He questioned and approached the gear, eyeing it like it would explode any second, for all he knew it could.

“Isabel thought it would be a good idea to sneak into the MP base” Farlen replied dryly “just for food” he quickly backtracked when he saw Levi raise an eyebrow, that tended to mean ‘you’re in trouble you little shit.’

“But then we saw three sets of this stuff on a table left completely unguarded! We couldn’t resist!”

“No, you couldn’t resist” corrected the blonde man. This was... impressive really, ODM gear wasn’t light by any means and could only imagine how difficult it would’ve been to evade capture whilst lugging one set around, never mind three.

“Why did you take this? How was this worth the risk?” He couldn’t help but ask, he rested his gaze on Isabel and watched her squirm.

“Just think about it bro, we could be unstoppable!” Levi raised an eyebrow and Farlen scoffed “Think about it! We could ran sack some shit-hole and make a speedy get away, we would be gone before people have even realised they’d been robbed!” He had to admit she had a point but...

“We have no clue how to use it” and it was Farlan that replied this time with a quick snipe of “If some of the MPs can manage it, it cant be that difficult.” Dammit he had a point.

“We’ll start practising tomorrow” he decided and watched in amusement as Isabel fist bumped the air above her and Farlen grinned.

xXx

The next morning Levi stood up from his chair, he never slept much, two or three hours if he got lucky so he spent most of his nights watching over his companions tangled together on the single couch they owned. His mind was clearer when he knew they were safe.

As he made his way to the bathroom he snagged a set of straps on his way, his chest ached like a bastard and he had no doubt that his chest would look like a child’s finger painting of bruises but if he just put it to the back of his mind he’d be okay.

After plenty of grunting and plenty of swearing he had his straps on, all he had to do was tighten the straps, he started with his legs and worked his way up. The problem was when he had to tighten the strap that travelled across his chest, each tug caused a spike of pain to shoot through his torso. By the time he’d finished he was breathing unevenly due to the shear throbbing in his ribs, he was pretty sure his eyes were watering too but he’d never admit that to any living soul.

He could hear the others waking up so he quickly pulled himself together and exited the bathroom.

“Eyyyyy bro! Looking good!” Came the overly cheery voice of Isabell, he didn’t answer but simply watched in amusement as she tried to balance on one leg to get the gear on only to tumble into Farlen. They’re really hopeless sometimes.

Soon enough they were ready to go so they left their apartment through the window and snook around the alleyways (Levi tried his best not to squirm at the dirt) to the edge of the Underground city were very few people bothered to roam.

“Hey guys watch this” was all the auburn haired girl said before she jumped off the building, released her lines too late and smacked into the wall opposite them- this was going to be a long morning.

xXx

It may have taken a couple of weeks of practice- most of which led to black eyes, bruised legs or wounded prides- but they were finally getting the hang of the gear, and god did it feel good.

The pain in his chest may have been unbearable due to the pressure of the straps but that was all forgotten when the adrenaline filled his veins, the pure delight he felt as he flew through the streets was addictive and it couldn’t be compared to anything he’d felt before, it was euphoric!

It hadn’t taken long for each of them to develop their own style of moving with the ODM gear, Isabel adopted a more gymnastic approach, he always marvelled as he watched her twist and spin through the air- her talent of vaulting form the building was quite impressive in itself. She’d told Levi that he was very “spinny” in the air and she had compared him to a delicate ballerina- he had stormed out of the room at that and she hadn’t brought it up again. Farlan was the one was struggling the most, he seemed almost too stiff as he moved and he put it down to not trusting the equipment which was understandable- they were basically placing their lives in the hands of some gas, grapples and their own reflexes.

That was what lead to the ‘trust training’ as Isabel called it, so they found themselves hanging from the roof of the Underground.

“So what? You want us to fall?” Questioned Isabel.

“Almost, I want you to let go, fall and catch yourself with your gear” he saw Farlen’s eyes widen comically at that. Isabel seemed more than ready to go, she never was one to shy away from a challenge and before they could even get a word in she was free-falling towards the streets below. He felt the blonde man tense next to him so he placed a (hopefully) reassuring hand on his arm, he relaxed slightly as that but he only starting breathing again when they saw Isabel’s feet touch the floor “see, she’s perfectly fine.” He could still see the hesitation in his eyes so with a sigh Levi unhooked himself and let go.

He loved the feeling of free-falling, it wasn’t exciting, it was more like... fast paced relaxation, even though every muscle was tight in anticipation he felt so loose and free, flying gave him the escape from reality he so desperately craved. Soon enough the ground was electrifyingly close so he dug his grapples into the buildings, however, instead of skidding to a halt like his friends expected he used his momentum to swing himself straight back up to the roof. As he flew higher and higher his speed dropped.

Then time seemed to slow completely, he started to spin in a backflip motion, he craned his neck back to look at the beautiful city below illuminated in yellows, greens and blues. The feeling of his raven hair brushing his cheek sent chills down his spine and he felt his toes brush the dirt roof through his boots, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a slack jawed Farlan starring at him- he shot him a rare cheeky grin.

Sadly, time had to catch up with him at some point.

Before he knew it he was skidding to a stop next to Isabel only for her to launch herself at him and wrap her arms around his neck.

“Bro! That was amazing!” She shouted in his ear and he couldn’t control the grin that found its way onto his face- flying brought the giddy side of him out. Soon they returned their attention back to Farlen (still hanging from the roof) and watched as he fell, his knees obviously tucked into his chest and eyes probably squeezed closed. Levi held Isabel’s shoulder and gave her a pointed look that clearly said “leave him be and let him do his thing” so she settled down next to him.

They watched in awe as the blonde man smoothly made his way down to them, it wasn’t long until he joined them on the rooftop, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were sparkling with excitement. Levi was swiftly pulled into a group hug, he instinctively tensed but it didn’t take much for him to relax.

He was safest with those two idiots, they would be okay.

They would survive.


	2. Desperate to Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi’s desperate for food, his family is starving but will the consequences of his choices be worth it?

Theft was always a risky business no matter who you were or where you lived, however, in the Underground it was fairly common and expected, it was every man for themselves and if you didn’t fight for survival you’d end up as a pile of bones in some rancid alleyway. Stealing was the trio’s main source of income and they were fucking good at it, the combination of their stealth skills and their ODM gear made them the perfect machines for life Undergound. Sadly, in the recent week resources had become scarce which had led to adults becoming savages and kids acting more like rodents lurking around the streets.

Normally, they would be out as a trio however, Levi hadn’t missed how Isabel’s eyes had begun to sink back into her skull and her ribs were becoming more prominent- none of them had eaten well in weeks but it seems to have effected her the most, so she was being made to rest and Farlan was left to look after her.

As the lone raven flew through the streets he kept as eye out for open windows, it was pretty scummy to ran sack people’s homes but his family was starving, he was getting desperate. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted an open window- perfect. Swiftly, he made his way to the glass and peered inside, it was void of any life, just what he wanted. He made sure to stay quiet as he moved around the apartment, but the creaking floorboards didn’t help him in the slightest. With a sigh he made his way over to the cupboards., he reached over to grab one of the handles, only to jump like a cat when the door hit the floor with a resounding ‘CLANG’- shit, someone could’ve heard that. He stayed perfectly still for a minute and only exhaled when there was no sign of movement near him. 

Bingo! He noticed the cupboard (well, more like a shelf now it had no door) contained two apples with only a couple specs of mould growing on them, if he sliced the mould out Isabel and Farlen could eat well tonight for the first time in a while. He shoved the precious fruit in his hip bag, made his way to the window and took off back to their home.

It didn’t take long for him to get home and he’d successfully evaded any MPs along the way, what a smooth day.

“Hey, big bro!” Came the weak voice of Isabel, he turned to see her laid on the couch with a thin blanket draped over her form, Farlen sat with his legs crossed on a chair next to her, he gave a soft smile to the raven when he saw him.

“Guess what I found” he announced, all he got as a response was an excited wiggle from the redhead and a raised eyebrow from the blonde, but they screeched happily when he pulled out the two apples. After slicing the mould off he passed one to each of them, a small smile came to his face when he saw how happy they were “savour those you two, I’m not sure when I’ll find more” with that he made his way to their bathroom.

“Have you eaten?” Came Farlan’s unmistakable voice.

He swivelled on his heels to face him “there was a slice of bread, I ate before coming back, happy?” He replied dryly and without waiting for a response he locked the bathroom door behind him. He put his back to the door and slid down to the floor, his chest fucking hurt. With nothing to distract him from the throbbing, the pain came at him full force like a boulder to his torso, he wrestled himself out of his waist coat and shirt before ripping the bandages away- only then could he breath. He didn’t even have to look down to see the mottling of bruises that covered his chest, he could fucking feel them and it hurt like a bitch. 

The bruises weren’t even the worst of it, the bandages had caused too much friction and years of binding his chest flat had caused the skin of his around his ribs to wear away, he lacerations around his underarms weren’t a pretty sight at all and he avoided looking at them at all costs- out of sight out of mind. His torso was more bruises and scars than actual skin at this point.

The real problem came with using the ODM gear, the pressure the straps caused was unbearable in the beginning, he had to constantly bite his lip to keep his groans of pain down (which was pretty dangerous in itself) but the restriction to his chest also made it incredibly difficult to breath, he had to figure out how to move with minimal breaths pretty early on. He would always be forced to wave Farlan’s questions about his panting away, he couldn't having them worrying about him, he was the ‘adult’ of them, they looked up to him.

They put their lives in his hands everyday and he wouldn’t compromise them no matter what.

With a pained grunt he forced himself to rise and grabbed his bandages, before swaddling his chest in the filthy bandages. It physically pained him to reuse old bandaged (they were almost brown at that point) but he never forgave himself for that time Isabel got a gash in her leg and they didn’t have enough bandages to properly tend to her wound. So, unless they suddenly come across the jack pot of first aid equipment he will use each bandage until they fall of his chest.

Eventually, he made his way out of the bathroom fully dressed once again, he looked up to see an extremely cute scene. Farlan had moved onto the couch (or had Isabel dragged him?) and he was now curled up against the red head, holding her against his chest, their sleeping expressions seemed more relaxed now after the measly apple.

It was moments like this that made his suffering worth it, when he saw his family curled up together like a pile of puppies.

This made it worth it, he would help them to survive, even if it killed him.

xXx

It was ‘night’ in the Underground, the market had closed and the streets had emptied, it was eerily quiet. Levi was perched on the corner of a rooftop, his ODM gear strapped to his waist and his knives safely hidden in his boots and belt. The others were safely sleeping at home, Farlan had made sure to fall asleep after him (the bruises under his eyes hadn’t missed the blonde’s attention) however, like always he only got two hours shut eye before he awoke to find his friends still curled up, snoring away.

If he couldn't get any more sleep he figured he might as well do something productive, so he took his gear, securely locked all the apartments doors and windows before flying down the street, revelling in the feeling of the adrenaline surging through his veins.

That’s how he found himself perched with his feet tucked under him, watching the Military Police base. Well it wasn’t really a base, more of a house that the pigs had taken over to dump their shit in when a sorry few were forced to patrol the Underground, no matter how much they would complain or harass the residents. The raven could see a whole table of food through a window just left there... unattended and ripe for the taking. 

Was it worth the risk? Absolutely, his friends had gotten weaker, Isabel now struggled to crack he usual jokes and Farlan’s cheeks had become hollow in just a few days, if he was perfectly honest- it was terrifying.

For the little amount of food that had reached Isabel and Farlan, Levi ate even less, it gave him energy just watching them eat the pathetic amount of food he could snatch from various houses. That didn’t put fat on his bones though, it didn’t escape his notice that his cheekbones stuck out, his eyes were becoming dark hollows, Farlan could now wrap his whole hand around his wrist and he could feel his ribs through his shirt, waistcoat and straps. 

He would never admit it but he was getting desperate.

Moving as silent as a mouse he moved over to the tantalising window, the food was just on the other side of the glass! With one last check he used his knife to unlock the window and without entering the room he began to scoop food into his hip bag. The was tons, the meat would be a nice treat but the rice would last longer so it could be hidden and rationed, he was getting giddy just thinking about it.

“Oi! What’re you doing?!” His eyes snapped up to see a man and a woman in MP uniforms, the roses on their sleeves sent a pang of disdain through him. He clipped the bag to his belt and with a cheeky wave he leapt from the building and shot down the street, he could hear the bastards following him but they were on foot, by the time they told someone with gear he’d be long gone. It felt good to get a one up on those police pigs- fucking dickheads.

He made sure to take the long route back to the others (to make sure he wasn’t being followed) but his chest was hurting and it was getting hard to breath, he figured it was safer to land as soon as possible so he didn’t drop out of the air like a dead fly. Getting the food back in one peace would be desirable.

Eventually he reached their sanctuary and stumbled through the window, his short breath making his vision swim slightly. 

“Levi?” Came the quiet mumble from Farlan, he spun to see the blonde squinting at him through his mop.

“Hey” he grimaced at how harsh it came out, he sounded like he hadn’t drank for months... not too far from the truth really. Isabel was beginning to wake up so he made his way over to the two and knelt in front of the sofa “I did something a bit risky tonight, but I did it for you two, okay?” Farlan raised an eyebrow and him and Isabel just rubbed her sleep clogged eyes.

After he handed the bag over he wandered away a few steps to strip himself of his gear and straps, then a gasp came from behind him.

“Where did you get this?” Questioned Farlan whilst Isabel just squealed in excitement, of course Farlan would be the voice of reason, ‘the worrying prick’ he thought affectionately.

“I took it from the MP base” at that Farlan’s jaw went slack and Isabel chirped a quick “You’re awesome, bro!”

“They didn’t follow me and they have no clue where we live, we will be okay, we’ll just lay low for a couple of days, no biggie” he reasoned, by the time he’d taken all his straps off (god that felt good on his chest) the others were nippling on a piece of meat each “be careful, that shit’s gotta last.” He took the bag from them and made his way over to their loose floorboard to stash it away.

“Have you eaten?” At his lack of response he heard Farlan sigh, when he turned to them the blonde was holding a piece of meat to for him, he couldn't bring himself to say say no to the other man. Isabel tugged him by his belt until he was nestled between the two and he happily munched on his meat- it tasted amazing, the content grin from the red head made the risk worth it.

Before he knew it his eye were becoming heavy, his head had dropped onto someone’s shoulder and then he couldn't resist the slumber pulling him into her dark embrace.

xXx

His eyes opened with a jolt, the first thing that he processed was that he was horizontal... what? It took a couple of seconds for his brain to catch up before he realised that he was just laying down on the couch, that was the most rested he’d felt in a long time. A giggle dragged his attention to his friends who were sat cross legged on the floor by each other. His heart warmed at the the domestic setting.

A pained groan escaped him as he sat up before he could bite his tongue to silence it, his companion’s head whipped around to face him.

“Levi! You’re finally up! Your hair’s so spiky!” Came Isabel’s sweet voice whilst Farlan questioned “Are you hurt?” Damn that boy for being so thoughtful, he waved them off before hauling himself up from the couch, the blonde’s gaze never leaving his form. He ran a hand through his hair, it was indeed “spiky.”

“Can we go to our special place today, bro?” The redhead wondered, making sure to rock back and forth, it gave her a childish aura and she knew Levi couldn’t say no to her then she reasoned “we deserve a break,” she knew she’d won when he just smirked at her, the squeal confirmed that. 

“Let me shower and then we can get going” he explained and made his way to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Even though he’d slept like a log he felt fucking awful, his shirt clung to him due to the sheer amount of sweat that was caked to his skin, as he peeled his layers of clothing off he cringed at the pang of pain that shot up his spine, god he hated it. 

Soon enough he turned the lever and let the water flow, then he stepped under stream, gasping at the freezing water on his skin. It didn’t take long for the water to heat up, a sigh escaped him when he felt his muscles relax slightly. He kept his eyes firmly on the tiles in front of him, not really wanting to look at his body, he knew what a mess it was, he didn’t fancy looking down at it- he could feel the throbbing of his ribs anyway, staring at it wouldn’t help. He grabbed the bar of soap before methodically scrubbing his hair, he couldn't help but gag as he saw the amount of dirt that disappeared down the drain. They all had to be quick when showering, the water was scarce and the boiler had a tendency to shit itself if too many people used it too often, it fucking sucked ass.

He hissed when he felt the water dip into the wounds around his underarms, breathing through gritted teeth he braced himself on the wall, that sudden attack of pain really winded him. Once the throbbing had passed he left the shower and quickly dressed himself in “clean” clothes (by that he meant slightly less dirty than the rest), he swore if they ever got out of this hell he’d never force them to look at another spec of dirt ever again whether that was dirt in their room or grease in their hair, and that was a promise to himself.

Levi stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed with slightly damp hair and fresh bandages (as a reward for the food he salvaged yesterday), looking around he saw Isabel and Farlan perched on the back of the couch fully decked out in their straps and ODM gear, they were ready to go and just waiting for him.

“Took you long enough” teased the fair haired man, smiling at him warmly.

“Shut up, I was a fast as I could be” he retorted dryly, Isabel cocked her head at him.

“What made you take so long?” Her face instantly contorted “actually I really don’t wanna know” she backtracked, he could only roll his eyes and ruffle her hair as Farlen curled over laughing- these brats were going to be the death of him.

Once he’d strapped his gear to his hips he addressed them both with a quick “ready to go?” Isabel nodded enthusiastically whilst Farlen disappeared into the bedroom- was he not coming? The redhead looked just as confused as him.

Soon the blonde emerged with three cloaks gripped in his hands “thought we should wear these, they’ll hide our gear and might help not draw as much attention?” His statement came out more than a question, his sheepish expression only added to it.

“I think that is a great idea” said Levi as he wrapped the cloak around his shoulder gratefully, he really was thankful for Farlan’s forsight for shit like this, if it was just Levi and Isabel they’d have been arrested years ago.

With one last thumbs up from everyone they made their way to the streets.

xXx

Walking through the streets of the Underground was an odd feeling these days, they’d gotten so used to seeing their world from above it felt almost wrong to be at street level again.

They were almost at their “special place” as Isabel had christened it, and he could feel her starting to vibrate next to him from pure excitement as the stream of sunlight came into view. For once they’d made it somewhere with no trouble.

Sadly, he spoke too soon.

They entered a busy street that had men and women lining the pavements, after rounding the corner Levi immediately clocked two men leaning against the wall, bottles firmly gripped in their palms, their postures screamed ‘I’m fucking pissed’ and that made his skin crawl, he felt Isabel shuffle closer into his side.

“Eyyyy look what we ‘ave here then!” Came one of their drunken slurs, Levi’s hand moved to the knife in his belt when one started stumbling over to them “Come here, baby” he made grabby hands at Isabel before setting his grubby mit on her shoulder, she tensed like a scared cat, he could’ve sworn he saw her hair stand on end like a feline’s too.

In the blink on an eye the raven’s knife had been run through the man’s palm and without a second thought he dragged the blade towards him, splitting that disgusting bastard’s hand straight down between his index and middle finger. The man screeched and clutched his hand, the blood quickly started running down his hand only to stain his pants, he stumbled away clutching his wound. Before the man could run Levi was on him, pinning him to the wall behind him and pressing his knife to his throat, leaning into the bastard’s ear he the raven whispered “If you even think about touching her, I’ll rip your balls right off your pathetic little body,” Levi smirked as the man whimpered before they continued on their way, weary of the attention they had attracted to themselves.

“So much for keeping our heads down” muttered Farlan and Levi sent him a look.

“He deserved it.”

“I never said he didn’t” they smiled at each other before hurrying along to their spot with Isabel between the two men.

None of them saw the blue eyes following them down the street.

xXx

They had found the clearing little over a year ago, Farlan could remember that day well, the overjoyed look on Isabel’s face was truly unforgettable, and it appeared on her face each time the trio made their way there.

This was on of the few places in the entire Underground where sunlight was allowed to seep through, the gap to heaven wasn’t always there, in fact it was once sealed up completely but it wasn’t sufficiently supported so it collapsed and fell into the grave. The blonde was truly thankful nobody had made the choice to fill it in, now the warm sunlight seeped down allowed a spattering of grass to grow under their feet. Only they could get up there with their ODM gear- it truly was their little sanctuary.

Isabel shot by Farlan and skidded to a stop at the centre of the opening only to throw her cloak off dramatically, spin and fall onto her back, exposing herself to the sun’s beams, here she was happiest. The blonde’s attention was drawn to Levi, who was perched on a rock pile on the edge of the opening, his eyes closed and his head tilted skywards, he looked...content. That place always had a weird way of soothing the elder, the sun seemed to act like a pacifier for him.

In all the years Farlan had known Levi the raven always put the two of them before himself, no matter the toll it took on his own body, and recently those tolls were becoming more obvious as the days passed. His eyes were sinking back into his skull and his cheekbones were becoming freakishly pronounced, it scared him if he was being perfectly honest, their leader was beginning to look... fragile and breakable, it wasn’t right, the Levi he met had a strong intimidating presence, now, this Levi still does hold that power but that fragile side was beginning to peek through his walls. He didn’t even miss how his breaths were coming in short pained puffs, he feared for Levi, was he ill? If he was why hadn’t he told them? It confused him

The elder had become more unpredictable in the past couple of months, he’d become more... deadly. He had always had a temper and Farlan liked to think he acted as the calming presence in the group but lately that didn’t seem to be enough.

With the sun stroking his face he remembers a time not too long ago, Isabel had left to “see some friends,” they hadn’t questioned it, she was an adult after all (she was fifteen but anyone over ten can take care of themselves down there). He remembered they were sat giving their gear a deep clean, after all dust clogging up the mechanism would only result in bad outcomes, when the resident redhead stumbled through the door. Now, Isabel had always prided herself on her long hair, each day she would carefully brush it out and tie it into pigtails, and when Levi would trim the bangs that framed her face by no means was he allowed to touch the longer strands, so when she stumbled through the door with one missing they instantly knew something was wrong.

For hours she insisted that she had tripped, but it was obvious that wasn’t the case, it was only when the raven was cutting the longer side to match did she mumble out “some guys down an alley jumped me” she offered nothing more and they didn’t question her, even if it was obvious that something more had happened. 

Farlan could see that Levi’s blood was boiling under his near translucent skin.

“You’re going after them aren’t you” it wasn’t a question, he already knew the answer, when he came back from checking on the traumatised girl the raven was gone, gear and all. 

He came back to their safe house that night with bloodied sleeves and a look of grim satisfaction displayed on his features, the blonde could only sigh.

“We should go” the gruff voice of Levi caught his attention “we shouldn’t be up here for too long,” he knew the elder was right, but he couldn't help but be disappointed, they had to leave the only place in this hell whole where they were all relaxed (well as relaxed as they could be), leaving was always a sorrowful affair.

Without waiting for Isabel to get up from her sun bathing Levi marched to the cliff side, and stretched, the blonde winced when he heard the amount of bones that cracked in the shorter male. Suddenly, before he could blink the raven had launched himself into the air and he was gone, flying through the cavernous space. Using the ODM gear was the thing that seemed to make Levi relax the most, before the gear they were all like little baby birds with wings not strong enough to help them escape this hell, but now the gear gives them those wings- no matter how scary it was it felt amazing to fly over the people below.

“Let’s go!” He vaguely heard as Isabel ran and jumped off the cliff edge, she’s a lunatic but they all were to some degree, they had to be to survive down here, with a weary sigh he followed.

xXx

Watching Levi fly was a beautiful display, he twisted and turned in ways that hurt Farlan’s brain, he would flip off rooftops, vault off walls and fling himself through the air like crashing wasn’t a serious issue they had to be worried about. It was impressive really, Levi was the best of all of them.

“Bro! We’re being followed!” Sang Isabel, and the fair haired man spun to see several hooded figured following them, using their own gear to catch up to them.

Well shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think???


	3. The Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chase begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for the “No Regrets” Manga chapter and Anime episodes.
> 
> I’m gonna diverge slightly from the canon story just so ya know xx

Erwin felt a bit bad for his squad, on any other day they’d be training, it was a day so they’d probably be in the forest with their ODM gear but instead he’d dragged them along with him to the Underground for a very specific reason. Tomas and Nanaba didn’t voice their distaste but their body language said it all, their eyes constantly scanned their surroundings and their hands never left their cloaks. Mike, on the other hand, wasn’t afraid to state how much he hated their current situation (no matter who was around).

“I don’t understand why we’re here Squad Leader, it’s filthy! I can feel myself catching a disease!” The younger man whined.

“I’ve explained it to you many times, Mike” Erwin reasoned, their task here was very specific and required a... unique approach.

“Yes but I need you to explain it to me again because I really can’t comprehend the stupidity of it!” Erwin just sighed, Mike was a good soldier but was also really good at complaining.

“Fine, last time okay? We are here to potentially recruit some soldiers for the corps” at Mike’s blank stare he continued “We’ve got reports that they are incredibly skilled with ODM gear and we could use that skill.”

“But aren't they criminals? How desperate are we getting for new recruits? And aren’t the Survey Corps meant to be the b-“ a quick glare front the Squad Leader quietened the man, yes it was a risky move but the pros seemed to outweigh the cons. If the criminals agreed then they’d have new recruits, if they decline their offer they’d spent the rest of their days in jail and if they escaped then they would go back to being the Military Police’s problem- a sly streak of satisfaction crept into him at the thought of causing problems for the Capital’s lame excuse for a police force.

“Just keep an eye out, apparently they should stand out” he advised his squad, they had no clue what they looked like, the most he’d heard through the gossip was there was ‘a midget and his dogs taking the piss’ but in all honesty that could be anyone, it wasn’t like the residents down here got the correct nutrients to grow in their youth.

The blonde and his squad had been down there for only a couple of hours but it felt like so much longer, the cramped spaces and filthy environment didn’t make for a pleasant visit- good job they were here purely for business, if they didn’t find any evidence soon he’d relent and they’d head back to base… and straight into the showers.

“Eyyyy look what we ‘ave here then!” He heard from his left, he didn’t pay it much mind (there were plenty of noises down here) but the sudden broken scream definitely grabbed his attention.

The four of them stood at the back of the crowd that had gathered but, he could clearly see the cause of the commotion, three individuals in blue cloaks were stood tightly together but one- a young looking man with dark hair styled in an undercut- had an obviously drunk man held by the collar of his shirt, the drunkard’s bloody hand combined with the other’s bloody knife didn’t leave much up to the imagination.

Before Erwin could even blink the dark haired man had the other pinned against the wall, the blood slicked dagger pressed against his throat. He leaned in and whispered something to the injured drunkard, before giving him a harsh shove and rejoining his comrades.

The blonde kept his eyes focused on the trio as they walked down the street, a taller man was muttering to the dark haired one, a small red headed girl nestled between them. It took him another glance to realise they actually had ODM gear hidden under their cloaks, interesting.

“Looks like we found our criminals” came Nanaba’s chirp and he had to agree, now just to catch them…

xXx

In all the long years Levi’s been alive (too many if you ask him) he’s managed to survive every threat thrown at him, whether that was dickheads fighting with him for their apartment, creeps who liked his “little body,” or random street urchins who looked at him wrong, he had survived it all. So what problem would a couple of police pigs with ODM gear be? None at all. When Isabel had pointed them out he couldn’t help but smirk, this would be fun. Levi knew they were good with their gear, they didn’t have any military training but the need to survive had forced them to learn.

“We’ll loose them in no time, these bastards can’t use that gear to save their lives” the raven explained, Isabel was perfectly unfazed by their perusers but Farlan seemed troubled, if his tense expression was anything to go by “we’re coming up to the bridge, let’s dive.”

With that the trio recalled their anchors and tucked themselves into balls, gravity forced them to fall to the floor like diving birds, it lit Levi’s nerves alight with pure adrenaline. He noticed the people below running to the edges of the path, obviously eager to avoid being landed on, at the last second he dug his anchors into the belly of the bridge and used his gas to propel him forwards, he was forced to spin suddenly when one idiot didn’t get the message to move out of the fucking way. 

The dumbass MPs wouldn’t be able to follow them through there, they were useless with their gear, none of them needed to be super skilled with the gear, no titans had ever entered the capital after all. The Military Police thought they were so badass, when their job was to practically wipe the noble’s asses and spoon feed them breakfast, they’d never been outside the wall, they’d never fought for their lives.

Levi spun around hoping to amuse himself with the sight of those pigs crashing into the bridge, but his eyes widened when he saw all four of the hooded figures follow them with faultless expertise- what the fuck? No MP was able to do that, he knew they didn’t train with the gear like the other divisions did, they had no reason to. His eyes widened... other divisions.

“I don't think these are MPs” at that he saw his companions swivel their heads to look at him.

“Then who are they?” Queried Farlan and wasn’t that the golden question. He had no clue or be honest but one thing he did know was if they were caught their gear would be confiscated, and that was the best outcome.

“Spin round at this next pillar” they nodded at him and continued on their way. The pillar was coming up quickly, the whirring of wires could be heard behind them, they were gaining on them. As his friends used their gas to propel themselves forwards around the pillar the raven dropped back, he wanted to get a good look at these bastards. As he came to the end of his swing he knocked his head to the right and got a good look at their hunters, and then he saw it.

The ‘Wings of Freedom’... fuck.

He knew from the gossip on the streets who these fucks were, they were the idiots who risked their lives beyond the walls, fighting the man-eating giants that had them trapped in the walls, idiots who knew how to use ODM gear far better than the MPs.

“They’re Survey Corps” he stated and Isabel whooped in excitement whilst Farlan screeched an undignified “what?!” And to be fair the man had a right to be panicked, these guys were skilled, “we’re gonna have to split, meet back up when you’re absolutely sure you’ve lost them,” with nods from his companions they took three separate paths through the streets. 

Right, now time to assess.

He twirled mid-swing to face their stalkers, now, Levi and his friends had been working together for a good few years now and they still had to use either verbal commands or hand signals to instruct them, but these fuckers just split apart without any signals made- as if they had planned this... surely not. The raven couldn’t see any of their faces, their hoods casted convenient shadows, but he could see he had two on him and that's all that mattered.

With that he swung round and shot forwards, he’d have to manoeuvre his environment with all the skill he possessed to get these Survey idiots off his tail but he’d do it, he had no choice.

Climbing higher he hopped from one rooftop to the next, each leap and landing methodical and calculated. If Levi was like a falcon in the sky then he was a feline on the ground, and that was the advantage he had over his pursuers.

He continued to run, not even bothering to check the status of the dickheads behind him, “that’s how you get caught” came the bland voice of Kenny in the back of his mind. He turn vaulted over a fence to land on a lower covering, the impact vibrated up his legs, before flicking his legs over a wall and using his momentum to fling himself off the roof- his stomach dropped in a way that sent a thrill through him. The raven anchored himself to two buildings and propelled himself through a small alleyway, the added power allowed him to hop and skip over several sewer pipes and walls- he’d be impressed if they could keep up with him after this. 

He carried on moving in sporadic unpredictable ways for a while, making sure to take the most difficult path possible. However, the chase had begun to take its toll on him but he refused to slow down, his chest was screaming in protest at every movement but he simply grit his teeth and pushed through the pain, it wouldn’t have been a problem if he could just breath, but that was becoming impossible too.

He realised the sound of wires whirring had faded so he flipped and landed in one of the wider alleyways, after a couple of seconds nothing was heard so he let himself relax for a second, he placed his hand on the grimy wall, leaning heavily on it and ran a hand through his sweat-drenched hair (disgusting). His vision had started to swim, that was probably a fucked up combo between a lack of oxygen and a lack of breakfast- he really was running off fumes at this point, but he’d still lost those fuckers.

Suddenly, the ceiling was falling on him- wait no, it was some guy, a Survey Corps guy to be exact. His muscles moved on instinct, he grabbed the guy’s arm and used his momentum against him, sending him flying into a nearby wall, a pained groan could be heard- Levi couldn't help but smirk at that.

Wait, his muscles tensed up, there were two after him, there should be another one somewhere. His steel eyes scanned over the rooftops, nobody was there but he couldn't help but remain tense- then there was movement from the corner of his eye.

He swivelled on his heels and brought his arms up to shield his face, and hopped to the side to dodge the butt of the figure’s sword. Before Levi could even think about lunging he was forced to throw himself into a backflip as the bastard span and swung his sword, aiming for his abdomen. The sudden action sent a spike of pain through his torso, he hid his grimace with a cocky grin- he wouldn’t let this idiot see any signs of weakness. 

He’d had enough.

The man went to swing again but this time Levi dropped back, rolled backwards onto his hands and pushed himself away from the man. The shorter man then swiped his dagger from his belt and swung at the man, their knives clashed, but Levi managed to lodge his dagger in the small wedge between the sword and the grip, sending the blade flying into the wall (he assumed the shriek he heard was from the blade just missing the first asshole), he didn’t see the boot flying towards his chest until it was too late.

His back hit the wall hard and it seemed to steal the breath straight from his lungs, his ribs felt like they were ablaze, the laceration on his underarms were almost too much but the adrenaline in his veins pushed that to the back of his mind.

“You downed him Squad Leader?” The Shrieker who first attacked him asked, downed him? Hardly.

Without hesitating he twisted his wrist to hold the dagger in a reverse grip, placed his palm against the butt and launched himself at the man, thrusting the blade up with one target in mind- the fucker’s throat. A warm flower of satisfaction bloomed in his chest when he saw the figure’s shocked face as he became unbalanced at his attack, that flower was quickly smothered when somehow his attacker lunged at him and grabbed both his wrists in an iron grip.

Levi wasn’t going to give up that easily- he struggled against the grip, determined to end this fucker. The struggle made the figure’s hood to fall down to his shoulders.

It revealed a man that definitely didn’t belong in the Underground, Levi now noticed how tall this idiot was (more like a titan that a man), his blue eyes seemed to glare straight into his soul and his blonde hair was cut into a hybrid of curtains and an undercut- what a fucking weird combination, he could practically the taste gel that held his hair in place. But what stole his attention was the guy’s fucking eyebrows, they were huge! The raven had to bite down a snort that threatened to escape him.

With renewed vigour he threw his whole body at the bastard with every intention to skewer his heart on his blade.

“Stop! Look around you” came his even voice, and Levi spared a second to glance around. It’s then that he saw Isabel and Farlan being pushed over by the other two Survey cunts, their hands tied behind their backs. The redhead was flinging her legs around shouting “Let me go!” In her high pitched squeak whilst Farlan just walked over with his head bowed in shame muttering “Don’t waste your strength, Izzy.” 

Shit they’d been caught, he didn’t mind himself being caught but, he wouldn’t endanger his friend’s lives more than he already had, so with that he loosened his grip on his dagger, listening as it clanged against the cobbled floor.

“Squad Leader, are you alright?” the bitch holding Isabel asked.

“Yes, you both did well” replied the blonde titan, Levi couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the half assed compliment.

xXx

The trio found themselves kneeling in front of the four Survey pigs, their cloaks and gear had been taken away whilst their hands were firmly tied behind them, the raven could also feel the shitty water soaking into the knees of his pants- fucking perfect.

“I have some questions to ask you” stated Levi’s attacker “where did you get this equipment?” He held up the ODM grip that Farlan had so painstakingly modified over the years they’d had them, “your manoeuvring skills were impressive, who taught you?” Wow he never stopped with the questions did he. When they stayed silent he moved to stand in front of Levi “You’re the leader, right? Have you had any military training?” He held back a scoff at that, if he had military training he wouldn’t be rotting away down here, Levi just stared straight into those blue eyes with his own steel ones, he’d tell this bastard nothing.

Suddenly he felt fingers tangle in his hair from behind, his head was yanked backward, exposing his throat to the world. He could only grit his teeth as his face was shoved down into a sewage riddled puddle- he was so close to gagging as the stench of shit invaded his senses., suddenly glad he was finding it so difficult to breath.

“I’ll ask you again” the asshole stared down his nose at Levi, like he was no better than the mud beneath his boot “where did you learn vertical manoeuvring?” The shorter male remained silent , he just glared at the blonde through his dripping bangs with pure hatred in his eyes.

“You think we’re gonna let some Civil Servant push us ‘round? We didn’t learn it from anyone!” Isabel snapped, drawing Eyebrow Titan’s attention to her.

“Anybody who doesn't know what sewage tastes like wouldn’t understand! We figured it out so we could survive in this dump!” Interrupted Farlan, with that the Shrieker shoved his face back into the puddle and suddenly dragged him back up by his hair- his scalp was on fire. He sucked in a mouthful of air, the feeling of the sewage dripping down his face made his eyes water with disgust, a painful attack of coughs overwhelmed him making his ribs ache and his lungs burn. Shrieker still refused to let go of his black locks.

“My name is Erwin Smith” so the blonde titan finally had a name “what is your name” as if he was going to tell this idiot who he was, it would make no difference anyway, he was just some urchin from the Underground “I applaud your determination, but keep it up any we will move onto your comrades” he fought against the hand in his hair to look over to his companions, the other two Survey bastards had their hands tangled in their hair, holding them over the puddle- the threat was obvious.

“If you’re gonna do it just do it already!” Isabel taunted.

“What is your name?” Smith asked again from his side, Shrieker forced his face back down, hovering just over the murky puddle.

“You bastard” the raven muttered, if looks could kill, Smith would be wiped from existence “it’s Levi” he relented, his name wasn't worth this much hassle, these idiots would forget it soon enough anyway, finally he felt the fingers untangle from his hair letting his bangs fall into his eyes.

“Levi,” Smith knelt down in front of him, “would you make a deal with me?” What... the fuck? He expected to be arrested or even put to death, but a deal? That made no sense whatsoever.

“A deal...?” His curiosity got the best of him.

“I will not ask about your crimes. In return you will lend me your strength and join us in the Survey Corp” no no no, he couldn't join them, he couldn't become one of the pigs that ridiculed them day in day out!

“If I refuse?”

“I turn you over to the Military Police. Considering your crimes I don’t think you or your companions can expect decent treatment” Smith reasoned, now stood over him “choose whichever path you wish.” The raven’s mind was going a hundred miles an hour, what was he supposed to do? It was either get handed over to the MPs and face probably horrific consequences for their crimes (he feared for his companions with that option) or go with these idiots, see sunlight and potentially get eaten by a titan- the choices weren’t great.

He glanced over at his friends, their eyes said one thing: ‘we trust you to keep us safe’ and that's all he needed to make his choice, it hurt his pride to spit it out though.

“Very well, we will join your Survey Corps.”

xXx

The market was crowded when they were escorted through, Smith had a tight hold of Levi’s cuffs, he didn’t miss how his companions weren’t being held, were they worried he’d run at the first chance he got? He wasn’t cruel enough to abandon his family. The raven could feel the stares they were receiving as they made their way through the crowd, the murmuring melded together into a sea of voices around them.

Smith had asked them where they lived so they could pick up thief belongings, but what was the point? They had no belongings to bring, just some dirty clothes that would be better off being burned and some mouldy food. They had nothing sentimental and nothing to really call their own, their gear was their most valuable possessions and these idiots had confiscated it. So, they had refused to give their (old?) address away.

“Oi, shorty! Who’d ya fuck to get outta here?” Came one voice, he carefully kept his expressions neutral (he refused to let them get any sort of reaction form him) but, he saw Isabel tense beside him, he sent her a quick glance and she quickly stood down, he understood that she wanted to stand up for him but they needed to get out of here with minimal issues ideally.

It didn’t escape his notice how Smith started walking faster, and soon they were climbing the stairs to the gate.

Ascending the stairs became increasingly difficult the higher they got, his chest was throbbing like some asshole was punching him repeatedly in the torso, he swore he could feel the bruises blooming along his spine from when Eyebrows booted him into the wall. It was awful. Worst of all his legs started to feel weak, why? He didn’t know but it made the journey so much harder.

As they came up to the gate it struck the short man how big it was, they’d always stayed away from the exit, there was no point going there as that’s where the MPs tended to hover. When he noticed the amount of rust that covered the barrier his fingers itched to grab a brush and start to scrub it off- the sooner they were out of there the better. Isabel’s happy vibrating didn’t go unnoticed and the female corps member’s hand hovered around her tied wrists, as if she was going to bolt any second, she wouldn’t, she was just excited to leave this shit hole and Levi couldn't blame her.

“Well well well, what’ve we got here then?” A slightly creepy voice came from their left.

“These three were caught stealing from the Survey Corps, we are here to take them to trial” explained Smith, he was lying... Why was he lying? They hadn’t stolen from anyone today...

The Military Policeman didn’t look happy at all with that “we’ve been after these fuckers for years and you lot think you can come in to take them to a cosy cell? No way, these runts deserve a lot worse, especially this fucker” he pointed directly to Levi at that with a gross leer, the raven looked away from the man’s gaze, he was uncomfortable to say the least.

“Well, you didn’t manage to catch them did you?” came Smith’s voice, the police pig clearly took offence to that but none of them took any notice as the gate began to rise, Isabel’s vibrating made her look more like a happy blur.

When they stepped out from the Underground Levi’s eyes immediately began to burn, the sudden progression of the depressing dark to the warm sun hurt but it was a good kind of pain, his retinas protested against the light invading his senses but it felt so good. Lowering his head to shade his eyes from the sun he glanced around, people were staring at them and he could understand why, three filthy Underground criminals being escorted by four of the Survey Corps... it was probably the most interesting thing these pompous assholes had seen in a while.

The next few steps were a blur, the sudden heat on his back combined with his aching legs and chest made his head ache so time suddenly became difficult to keep up with. Before he knew it they were being herded into a carriage, with seats covered in the comfiest pillows he’d ever felt, slumping into the seat he concentrated on breathing- in and out, in and out, nice deep breaths- no matter how much the bandages around his chest protested.

The raven just laid his head against the glass and observed the citizens going about their day. He didn’t notice his hands being untied or the various concerned gazes looking at him as his breath rattled in his lungs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, I’m hoping people are liking the different perspectives.
> 
> Tell me what you think! Xx


	4. Sudden Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio try to get used to the sudden changes in their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning- flashback to non-con happenings!

They had seen sunlight before, only because of their ‘special place,’ but this was the first time they’d seen whole streets bathed in the stuff. Even though his vision was blurred, Levi couldn’t help but gently smile at Isabel as she peeled the carriages curtains back to peer out, giggling as she watched the kids play in the street.

“It’s so… different” she said, the awe evident in her tone.

“That’s because it is different, Izzy” stated Farlan, chuckling when the redhead sent him the ‘well, duh’ look. Now the sun was no longer beating down on his back the raven took stock of their situation- there was four of them in the carriage: Levi, his friends and one incredibly nervous looking Corps member, he was tall and lanky with black hair swooped to the side, his eyes constantly flicked between the trio (he had no clue where the rest of them were).

“We don’t bite” Levi muttered, smirking when the guy’s head snapped over to him “you think we’re gonna attack you?” The man just stared at him- great “well we won’t, wouldn’t do us any favours” with that the raven rested his head against the window, revelling at the cool touch against his skin, and stared into the bright street through his sweaty bangs.

He could vaguely hear his blonde companion talking “I’m Farlan, she’s Isabel and the short one’s Levi” on any other day he would have scolded the blonde for the jab but he just didn’t have the energy, even the thought of giving his full attention hurt his head.

After a minute of silence the skittish idiot (seriously if he couldn’t face three criminals how did he go up against titans?) answered, “My name is Tomas, the lady with us is Nanaba, you’ve met Squad Leader Erwin and the other guy” that must be Shrieker “is Mike… we make up Squad Erwin” wasn’t that fascinating, he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Farlan and their guard struck up a conversation about something.

This was going to be a long ride.

xXx

Eventually the carriage pulled to a stop, Levi’s head was incredibly thankful for that, and the four of them piled out.

“Wait there, we’ve got to get you processed, please don’t move” the nervous idi- Tomas he mentally corrected, said over his shoulder… so they just had to stand there and wait? A small part of him was amazed at how unorganised the Corps seemed to be so far. With a deep sigh he made his way over to the stone steps leading up to some building and threw himself down, wincing when he hit the step a bit too hard. His everything hurt like a bitch, his head was pounding, his chest was still throbbing even though he didn’t have his straps on anymore and his legs felt like jelly… what a shit day. He just cradled his head in his hands in a pathetic attempt to fight off the headache.

The day couldn’t have gone any worse... actually yes it could have gone a lot worse- they could currently be in the hands of those police pigs and god knows what they would do to them. He wouldn’t have feared for himself, he could have taken what they threw his way, but it made his skin crawl at the thought of what they would’ve done to his friends. He saw how some of them would look at Isabel.

“You okay, bro?” He heard the redhead ask, he raised his head to see her worried expression mirrored on Farlan’s mug.

“I’m fine, just a lot’s happened today,” it was only a half lie, a lot had happened but he wouldn’t tell them of how uncomfortable he was.

“You’re right there” she plopped down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder “but you did it, bro” she stared dreamily at the setting sun.

“Did what?” the raven couldn't help but ask.

“You got us out of there” replied Farlan as he sat on Levi’s other side, effectively caging him in but he didn’t mind, he was safe with these two “if we don't cause any trouble well be perfectly fine, we are safest together” and he was right, as long as they had each other’s backs they would be okay.

Together they sat there, all three of them soaking up the last few rays of sun as it sank over the horizon. It was beautiful, the way the sky was painted with oranges, pinks and purples, the sight alone was almost enough to smother his pain. It amazed him how most people took this sight for granted, he didn’t think he’d ever get used to the sight of the setting sun.

He felt like he could spend the rest of his days sat there watching the colours spread across the sky.

“Oi! You three!” of course all good things had to come to an end.

xXx

“These are the bathrooms” Tomas indicated to two doors next to each other, one saying ‘Men’ and the other ‘Women,’ “these are your uniforms” he handed a pile of clothes to each of them “we tried to guess your sizes but of something doesn’t fit just let me know and I’ll change it for you” he finished with a weird smile.

“Cheers!” Chirped Isabel before grabbing the clothes and barging her way through the door.

“We will be quick” stated his blonde friend as he disappeared into the men’s room, Levi couldn’t help but sigh as he followed, his own uniform held tight to his chest, as the raven entered the room his heartbeat picked up.

The bathroom was... all right, on the left side of the room ugly (but thankfully clean) cream sinks lining the wall, each paired with a mirror that sat above them- almost all of them were cracked in some way shape or form. The opposite wall was covered in various doors- he could only assume they led to shower cubicles? Three benches sat parallel to the sinks, his heart dropped into his stomach when he saw Farlan openly changing in the centre of the room with his clothes scattered over one of the benches- shit, he’d have to change in front of his friend, his breathing picked up at the thought.

They had never changed in front of one another before, Levi had always managed to come up with some sort of excuse as to why he could be excused, usually it was “I need to shower,” but there was no way he could get away with that today, there was no time to shower.

He silently laid his clothes onto the bench nearest the door, it was only changing his shirt that would be the issue- his bandaged chest would raise far too many questions, if he was quick there would be no problem... he waited until the blonde man had turned his back on him before ripping his shirt off, he had to swallow down a pained groan at the fast movements. The raven’s heart beat thumped in his ears as he fumbled with the shirt, the blonde began to turn to face him as he finally got the fucking shirt over his head, that was far too close for comfort.

“You okay there, Levi? You look a bit out of breath” it was then he realised he was in fact breathing heavily- the pain around his ribs forcing harsh breaths in and out his lungs.

“Yeah, I’m fine” was all he gave before moving to change the rest of his clothes, but his vague response seemed to appease his friend. Methodically, he swapped out his grimy clothes for the crisp new uniform- the scent of fresh fabric sent a shiver down his spine, he tucked the shirt into the tight white pants (what dumbass chose white?) before turning to tackle the ODM straps. With practised ease Levi tightened the buckles over his body, it was almost like a ritual that brings him mixed results, the straps over his body put him somewhat at ease- they made him feel less... vulnerable- but the throbbing in his chest intensifying hurt like a bitch, each individual bruise seemed to burn.

“You ready to go?” The raven turned to see Farlan admiring his reflection in the mirror “You know these uniforms aren’t half bad.”

“Apart from the white pants, what idiot chose white?” That earned a laugh from the blonde “but yeah I’m ready to go” with that he threw the weird cropped jacket on (this uniform made no sense whatsoever) and moved to the bathroom’s door. The sight they were met with was an amusing one: Isabel seemed to be telling some amazing tale to poor Tomas, her hands were gesturing so fast they were practically blurs.

Tomas spotted them “Oh! There you are, let’s get going!” He sounded almost relieved, Levi had to suppress a chuckle at that. The trio followed the black haired corps member down the hall until they came to ended at, yet another, door “these are one of the dorm rooms, Flagon will show you around, I’ll see you all later” and with that Tomas escaped.

Before any of them could get a word in the door swung open to reveal a tall man with dish water blonde hair, and to top it all off he had a patch of hair glued to his chin. Levi already hated this man.

“I’m Flagon” no shit “keep up” and then he turned to disappear into the dorms, the trio had no choice but to follow. The room they were faced with stunk of sweat and the floorboards creaked beneath their boots- that was going to get annoying at night. They made their way down the centre of several bunks “these are the military barracks” this guy just loves to point the obvious out.

“Sweet! So we still get to sleep in the same room?” Isabel sang as she skipped next to Levi.

“The women’s barracks are separate” retorted Dish Water.

“That’s not fair! I wanna stay with you two!”

“That’s enough Izzy” reasoned Farlan “those are the rules.”

The raven could see Dish Water’s eye twitching in irritation at their squabbling, good “this bunk’s for you two” he indicated to the bunk at the very end of the room and Levi had to swallow down a gag, there was so much filth he could see the layers of dust from where he was stood. The raven approached the bed, his fears were confirmed when he swiped a finger along the wood only to see a shit tone of dust wedged under his fingernail- it was fucking disgusting “I know you’ve spent your whole lives in the trash, but at least try to keep this place clean.”

Without thinking he swivelled on his heels to face Dish Water “what?” How dare this asshole say that about them when he could practically taste the sweat in the air from the other filthy idiots that lived in the room, the shorter man marched up to Dish Water “what did you just say?”

“Hey! You watch your tone with your superior officer, you little punk” Levi was five seconds away from clocking the asshole in the nose when he felt Farlan’s hand on his chest.

“Don’t worry Mr Squad Leader Sir! We’ll keep it clean” he turned his head to glare into the raven’s steely eyes “right?” When Levi didn’t answer Dish Water just tutted.

“First thing tomorrow morning you’ll report to the training yard, no excuses” and with that he marched out dramatically, slamming the door behind him, what a baby. There was a beat of silence until Farlan span around to face him head on.

“Levi! I thought we agreed to not cause trouble!” At least the raven had the decency to look at his boots in shame- that was until he couldn’t hold his retort in any longer.

“Didn’t you hear what he was saying about us? It was like shit calling shit dirty” the sigh from the blonde cut him off.

“The military is a vicious place, if we keep drawing attention to ourselves over something like this-“

“They’ll only treat us with courtesy if we act dull like them” he snapped back as he continued to inspect the state of the bed “what a pain in the ass this all is.”

“Levi-“

“Stop bothering Levi, Farlan!” Retorted Isabel as she hung her top half over the edge of the bed, when had she climbed up there? “We can just beat ‘em up like we did in the Underground!”

“Shut up, idiots should be seen and not heard” the blonde retorted dryly, only to be met with an offended squawk from the redhead, he decided to leave them to their bickering, silently thankful to Isabel for giving him an escape route. A cupboard in the corner caught his attention, silently he stalked over and wriggled the doors open (when was the last time they had oiled these fucking hinges?) and the contents made his eyes light up.

“Oi! Idiots” his companions turned to face him only to immediately groan and slump over.

“Do we have to, bro?” Whined the hanging girl.

Levi smirked whilst he threw the window by their bed open, both hands holding a broom each “Yes, we are going to clean the shit out of this bed, don’t leave a spec of dust behind.”

xXx

Sleep did not come easily to Levi that night, the most he could manage was a solemn stare at the slats of the bed above him. Even though the day had been exhausting and his body felt heavy his mind refused to shut up, it was slowly driving him insane. His fucking head wouldn’t stop running at a hundred miles per hour, he couldn’t stop thinking about how the day had played out. His friends had woken up cuddled together on their pathetic couch, but tomorrow they would wake up cuddled together in an actual bed in some shitty military barracks- the sudden change gave him mental whiplash (the most confusing part was how Isabel had managed to not get caught in the men’s dorms).

Even though they had made sure every spec of dust had been banished from the bed he still felt... uncomfortable, he had no clue if it was down to his aching torso, sore legs or throbbing skull. Either way he felt like complete shit.

Rolling onto his side his silver eyes observed the rows of other bunks that lined the walls, snoring lumps lay under each blanket- good thing someone’s getting some sleep. Sighing, he pulled his knees up to his chest before wrapping his twig-like arms around them, it gave him some sense of safety, tomorrow they would train with the others for the first time and he could already predict that they would be complete assholes to the trio so, a good nights sleep would come in handy.

With that he forced his eyes shut, evened out his breathing and wiped all thoughts from his mind.

Eventually, the raven fell into an uneasy sleep.

xXx

A wet spine was the first thing he registered as he woke up... what? His eyes snapped open to see a wall opposite him, a thin layer of moss covered it giving the bricks an uneasy tint of green. He looked left to see the opening of the alleyway he was sat in, it was a fair walk away, pushing himself up Levi began to move to the mouth of the cramped path.

The cobbled floor was cold on the souls of his bare feet, why didn’t he have any shoes? Where were his shoes? Looking down he confirmed his lack of footwear and he flinched when black hair fell into his eyes, that was his hair... he ran a hand through his black locks only to find that it reached his shoulders, why did he have long hair? He hadn’t had long hair since his early days with Kenny...

No, this wasn’t right.

Pulling the collar of his large shirt away he looked down to see his greatest fear- his chest was bare, no bandages in sight, no, no, no! This was wrong! He suddenly felt the need to suck in quick, panicked breaths, it made his head go fuzzy.

“Hey there, little one” the voice behind him made him jump slightly, he swivelled to face the person when he was suddenly pushed backwards, his back forcefully smacking into the grimy wall.

He opened his mouth to talk but any words he could think of got tangled around his tongue. A sob tore its way up his throat when he felt disgusting, rough hands make its way up his thigh.

“Oh yeah, what a good little girl” Levi willed his limbs to move but they wouldn’t listen to him, it was like he was paralysed, and it terrified him. His attacker wrapped his arms around Levi’s weaker ones, before slotting himself between the smaller man’s legs. He didn’t want this, he wasn’t a girl, he was a guy but he couldn’t talk! He was trapped, he felt so weak and helpless.

Suddenly he felt teeth pierce the flesh of his neck, a scream clawed its way out of him- the bastard had bitten him.

His heart picked up when he felt a hand get higher, and higher up his thigh, the thumping in his ears was borderline painful.

He didn’t want this.

He wasn’t a girl, he was a guy.

No, no.

No!

xXx

Steel eyes snapped open, his body was covered in a sheen of cold sweat, making him feel disgusting, he raised his shaky hands to his eyes giving them a rub to clear them before flitting his gaze around the room. Everything was how it should’ve been, several bunks containing sleeping bodies, his quaking fingers move to his temples, giving them a quick massage to try and wake himself up.

He figured he wasn't going to get back to sleep, through the window he spotted the sun peaking its way over the horizon, it was nearly time to get up anyway. Pushing himself up out of the bed the raven grabbed his uniform before stumbling out of the dorm on shaky legs, his goal was the shower room.

Eventually, he reached his destination, the chill of the room somewhat refreshing his senses. Without a second thought he stumbled his way into the first shower cubicle he came across.

The second he’d stripped himself of his clothing he turned the lever, wincing when it screeched like a banshee, and revelled in the feeling of warm water washing away any physical remains of the mental horror he’d endured. Grabbing the soap he started washing his arms, the skin turning a light pink at the harsh scrubbing, his neck throbbed slightly, like the bastard had actually bitten him.

That was when he realised in his panic he hadn’t taken his bandages off, and now they were soaked- shit, shit, shit. He had no choice but to unwrap the sodden bandages from his chest, cringing when they made a harsh ‘splat’ as they hit the floor, the pure brown dirt that washed out of them very nearly made him gag- it was revolting, he did his best not to think about how that had been on his body.

He scraped the sponge over every part of him, his thighs got the worse of the abuse- the raven could still feel the ghostly touches of those perverts hands on him.

After his shower his skin felt raw to the touch, perhaps he’d scrubbed a bit too hard.

He went to wrap a towel around his form, only to realise he’d forgot to grab one, fucking perfect, nothing was going his way. With no choice but to dash to the towel rack he popped his head out the door- no one in sight, okay maybe the morning hadn’t been a complete disaster so far.

Eventually, Levi found himself partially dressed in front of the mirror, turns out getting dressed with red raw skin hurt like a bitch, so he stood there with his white uniform pants on and his towel wrapped around his shoulders. Then he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and to put it lightly, he looked like absolute shit. The bags under his eyes would be impressive under other circumstances but it made him look slightly homeless, a line of bruises peeked out from his towel, he didn’t really fancy looking at the state of his chest- the pain was bad enough as it was.

“...Levi?” The raven shot up like a scared cat before spinning around to face the newcomer- Farlan “you okay? I heard you leave in a rush and you look kinda pale...” he couldn't talk as one of his closest friends approached him, it was like all words had been stolen straight from his mouth, the only thing he could do was tighten his hold on his towel.

He was aware of how weird his current situation looked.

His friend’s gaze flicked down to his chest, a small squeak escaped the raven’s mouth, he was being truly being pathetic. The blonde began to make his way towards him, moving like he was approaching a wild animal rather than his friend “you’ve been hiding something Levi, I haven’t missed the signs.”

Shit, he couldn’t move, his legs wouldn’t listen to him.

“Those bruises look painful, who gave them to you?” Levi... Levi gave them to himself “you can trust me, Levi,” suddenly he felt his heart crack, and like a dam breaking the emotions flowed, a broken sob wracked his frame. Burying his face into the fluffy towel he let the tears flow freely for the first time in so long, he nearly missed the arms pulling into someone’s (Farlan’s) chest “who did this Levi?” 

“Me” he whimpered, his voice hardly audible, but nevertheless his friend held him tighter.

Eventually Levi’s sobs quietened down to gentle hiccups “Let me take a look at the bruises,” the raven didn’t move but he also didn’t resist when Farlan pulled the towel from him, essentially taking his only shield away. He didn’t miss the subtle gasp from the younger man when he took in the horrific sight that was Levi’s chest, but apart from that he ignored the un-manly torso Levi had “okay, wait here, I will be back in one second” he explained before rushing to the cupboard. He returned with a first aid kit.

He vaguely heard his friend say something about cleaning and stinging but he didn’t react, he couldn't react, any words said to him sounded like they were being spoken through glass- all he could do was glare at a spec of dirt on one of the tiles as his arms were manipulated by his friend.

Minutes or hours could have passed by the time Farlan finally declared he was done, his bruises ached from being prodded but the lacerations under his arms felt way better, the stinging had become more of a throb- it felt more... manageable. He was forced to glimpse up at his friend when the blonde held his shirt out to him “the others will be getting up soon” no he needed bandages, he couldn't leave without bandages around his chest.

“I need bandages” his voice was coarse and raw from crying, when the other raised his eyebrow he elaborated “for... this” he gestured to his chest.

“Um... okay” Farlan rummaged in the first aid kit until he held up his find and handed them to the raven, watching as he wrapped the bandages around his ribs, pulling them tight to make sure they stayed flat “this explains... a lot.”

“Don’t you have questions?” Of course is friend had questions, he’d just found out his partner (who he thought was a man for as long as they’d known each other) had fucking breasts.

“Not really” what the fuck “I’m not gonna pretend to fully understand what’s going on and I am slightly upset that you didn’t tell us” here it comes “but it’s your private business” it felt like a weight had been taken straight from Levi’s shoulders “and I won’t tell anyone under two conditions.”

The raven took a deep breath before nodding to his companion, pulling his shirt over his head as he listened.

“You let me keep track of your injuries, they could easily get infected” that made sense and it would be easy enough. “And you tell Isabel” ah... that would be a bit trickier “she deserves to know.” God he was right but that didn’t make him any more comfortable.

“Fine, if we’re done here I’m going to wake her up” the blonde inclined his head and headed towards on of the showers “and Farlan” he turned to face the elder.

“Thank you,” he didn’t specify what for but he had a feeling his friend understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!
> 
> Comments & Kudos inspire me to keep writing xx


	5. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio are introduced to their new Squad Leader and spend the day training.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’ve reached over 170 hits, thank you!
> 
> Some new characters but not all are important for future events.

“We haven’t even eaten!” Isabel whined as they followed some guy with short, dark hair and a thin line of hair along his jaw. The way he carried himself told Levi he was either in charge of this place or at least was high up the food chain.

“You will eat after training just like the rest of the recruits” the guy told them, his low baritone voice bounced off the walls “My name is Keith Shadis, you will refer to me as Commander Shadis” ah, so the raven’s suspicions were confirmed, but in all honesty he thought Smith was in charge (he just gave off that sort of vibe) however, it seems he was wrong “now, follow me and keep up.”

After following the Commander for a while (Levi was forced to half jog, damn his short legs) they eventually climbed a set of stairs and reached a... stage? In front of them were far too many soldiers stood in a grid pattern, each person stood with their hands behind their backs, the way they all stood in the exact same way unnerved him a bit. However, there were some familiar faces like Smith and Dish Water.

“Attention!” Called the Commander, somehow the soldiers stood up straighter “I am here to present you with three new recruits who will be fighting along side you, I imagine some one you will recognise them from the barracks but I still want you three to introduce yourselves,” right, so that’s how its gonna be.

For a second Levi down right refused to talk, they were adults, he wasn't gonna introduce himself like a child. A tall woman with brown greasy hair (he could see the dirty shine from where he was stood) gave him a nervous side glance, so he decided to swallow his fucking pride and mutter out a quick “... name’s Levi,” he kept his expression as neutral as possible, but the slight grimace couldn’t be controlled.

“Isabel Magnolia, nice to meet ya’ll!” The redhead shouted, the raven couldn't help but wince at her tone.

“I’m Farlan Church” was all the blonde gave up, but the smile on his face was far more welcoming than Levi’s glare. He couldn't help the smirk when he saw some of the soldiers glance at each other uncomfortably- good.

“They will be assigned to Flagon’s Squad, take good care of them” oh shit they were paired with Dish Water’s shitty group of lackeys, fucking perfect. Apparently Dish Water felt the same about the situation if his squawk of “My Squad?!” Was anything to go by.

“Is that a problem?” Questioned the Commander.

“No! I- I just thought they would be better under the guidance of Squad Leader Erwin, Commander” the idiot stumbled over his words, side eyeing Smith in the process.

“I have placed Squad Leader Erwin in charge of the upcoming expedition, therefore, he will have no time to care for new recruits, is that understood?”

“Y-yes Commander” their new leader answered, thumping his chest with a fist in some sort of odd saluting gesture— this place was fucking weird, but watching Dish Water sweat nervously almost made it worth it.

xXx

Soon enough the several squads split up for training... the joy, reluctantly the trio followed Dish Water and his rag tag group of disciples.

“Theresa, take these three to the stables, they’ll be on the horses today” Flagon shouted unnecessarily, they were right next to him for fuck’s sake, but at his order a girl to their right did that stupid salute before waving them away from the rest- Levi happily followed.

Their temporary mentor stood just above Levi’s height and walked with a light spring to her step, over all he couldn’t find anything to annoy him so she was in his good books for now. Once they were away from Dish Water’s group the girl spoke up, “okay, hello! I’m Theresa and I guess I’ll be helping you with the horses today” she tossed one of her strawberry blonde pigtails over her shoulder as they make their way into a moth-eaten stable, the creaking beams set the raven on edge slightly. The three of them tensed when several large horse heads come into view, but Theresa just reached to stroke one’s snout like the beast wasn’t towering over her “these are the military horses, they have been selectively bred to outrun the titans so they’re not your average cart horses, but they're gentle giants really.” 

Now, Levi had never been close to a horse before, he had seen them from afar when the Military Police used to patrol the streets of the Underground on a couple (one was brown he remembered distinctly), but that stopped when the cobbled streets became to uneven for their hooves. It wasn’t like anybody had pets either, food was difficult enough to come by as it was but trying to feed a useless animal too? You would’ve been condemning yourself to starvation for sure. The closest anyone got to having a pet was when a random kid would trap a rat in a box for fun.

“I’m gonna go through this with you like you’ve never even seen a horse so I know I’ve told you everything” oh thank god, maybe she’d read his mind.

“Do we get a horse to ourselves?” Asked Isabel, of course that’s what she’d be interested in.

Theresa chuckled “not really but people tend to stick with the same horse, each one moves a different way, you know?” He didn’t but he nodded anyway “but it’s always good to practice with different horses.” With that she led them over to three horses, one brown, one beige and one grey “alright pick a horse and I’ll show you how to saddle them up.” Isabel bounced over to the grey horse, giving it a rub on the nose, it always amazed him how fearless she was. Farlan on the other hand held a shaky hand up to the beige horse’s nose, flinching slightly when it sniffed his hand. Considering they’d never seen a horse before Levi was proud of how brave they were being- he’d never admit it out loud though.

He turned to face the grey horse head on, their eyes meeting, if he was being honest he’d say the beast looked a bit dead inside- at least they had something in common. Moving to stand in front of the horse he realised just how fucking big it was, it was like a slap to the face, a rude slap to the face... from a horse. Turning slightly a bucket caught the raven’s attention, peering over the edge to see it half filled with apples, he grabbed one and held it to the horses mouth. He couldn’t help but chuckle when the beast practically inhaled the fruit.

When he felt a presence next to him he span on his heels, body suddenly tense, only to come face to face with Theresa.

“Hi,” she said, holding up the saddle in her arms. He looked to the other stalls to see his friends missing “they’re horses are all saddled up and they’re walking them to the field to get used to them, I see you’ve discovered this guy’s love of apples” he just grunted in response, maybe she could read his mind? “This is Rex, it was Reckless but we shortened it... watch closely and I’ll show you how to saddle a horse up!”

xXx

Sitting on a horse was a weird feeling Levi decided, he was sat on something solid, yes but when the beast shifted on its hooves he was forced to shift with it just to maintain balance- it was fucking weird... but not uncomfortable. Isabel was a natural on her horse (a mare named Lady if he remembered correctly), she seemed to listen to the redheads every shout and pull of the reins.

“She’s a natural” Theresa muttered in awe.

“Yeah and she’s never even been on a horse before today” Farlan retorted, rubbing his horse’s neck gently, when the girl’s head span to face them the blonde explained “there’s no horses in the Underground” Levi decided to tune out after that, the morning’s bathroom event wouldn’t stop running through his head, how had he allowed himself to look so weak in front of one of the people who rely on him? He didn’t even want to think about how he was going to tell Isabel. At least Farlan hadn’t brought it up again but the raven didn’t miss the glances he gave him. However, now one of his friends knew it felt like a lead weight he been lifted from his chest... it was refreshing in a way.

The raven really just wanted to put the ODM gear strapped to their waists to good use, he didn’t have to think when he was flying through the air at a stupid speed. 

The whirring of wires snapped him back to reality, he looked up to see Isabel flying off into the trees, her horse trailing after her.

“And I didn’t even have to really teach her anything!” Theresa seemed absolutely amazed by their friend, to be fair she was a pretty amazing human being (when she wasn’t flinging herself into walls accidentally) “I guess we should just join up with Squad Leader Flagon” Levi nearly gagged at the mention of the man “let’s take the horses back to the stable, erm... how do we get Isabel back?”

Levi couldn’t contain a snort at that, “she’s not a fucking dog, Isabel! We’re leaving!” Within a couple of seconds the redhead in question was flying towards them “see?” He turned to Theresa, a sheepish look adorning the girl’s face.

None of them saw blue eyes watching them from the barracks windows.

xXx

Stabling the horses and taking their saddles off was pretty straight forward and Rex seemed pretty content to enter his stable... after being tempted with an apple. His companions had finished with their horses and were already stood outside waiting, Levi was hanging the saddle up when he heard a sudden ‘BANG’ from the other end of the stables.

“What was that?” He asked himself seeing as no one was in the stable with him. When another bang was heard his curiosity got the best of him so he made his way down the corridor- the damn squad could wait for a minute or two. 

Identical stall doors lined the corridor, horse heads peaking out of some, but one of the large oak doors shook on its hinges when yet another bang sounded, was something trying to escape?

He approached the door slowly, not wanting to startle whatever was in it.

Peering into the stall he saw a horse that looked like none of the other horses there, it was slightly taller than the others but it still had a thin yet muscular frame. Its shiny jet black coat reflected the light off it perfectly and its midnight mane fell over its neck. He could tell the exact moment the horse saw him, it stood up, holding its head as high as possible in an ‘I’m better than you, so fuck off’ manner.

“I see you found Valka” shit, he swivelled around to see Theresa, they would really have to get a bell for her “she’s a feisty one.”

He cleared his throat before answering “yeah, she was trying to break the door down,” that earned a laugh from the woman.

“She does that, won’t let any of us near her, she’ll be getting sold soon,” well that made no sense.

“Why is she here then?”

“Well, she was dumped as a foal so we took her in, she’s one of the breeds used for cart pulling in the outer walls but she’s slightly too lean for that, in theory she’d make a perfect military horse however, she knocks off anyone who tries to break her, she’ll be gone soon. A shame really,” well that was fucking dumb, Valka’s dark eyes seemed to stare into his soul but he could see a spark in them, a spark that he recognised it was a spark that gave her the will to survive. 

It would be a shame to see her go.

“C’mon, let’s get going and leave this moody mare alone” as the raven went to follow his temporary mentor he couldn't stop looking at Valka, it hurt something in his heart to think about her being sold to some filthy farmer and that was somehow worse than the usual throbbing in his bandaged chest.

xXx

“Oi! You!” Levi suppressed a groan, they’d been there for two seconds and Dish Water was already trying to start a fight, he tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword “what do you think you’re doing holding it like that? They’re not designed to be held like that!” The raven glanced down at his hand, the sword held tight in a reverse grip “you wanna be killed the second you set outta the walls?”

Levi sliced the air in front of him “you might end up that way” he retorted dryly, hoping to piss the bastard off.

“What did you just say?” nailed it.

“What does it matter when the end goal is slicing a titan’s nape?” When Dish Water didn’t respond he continued “let me do whatever I want,” when the idiot just growled at him (what was he, an animal?) the raven smirked in satisfaction. He ignored the glare Farlan sent his way.

Soon enough they were flying through the air, the wind made his eyes water slightly but he loved it. The ‘game’ was simple, aim for the dummy titans and mess up their napes- easy enough, to begin with his friends had stuck to their usual formation with Levi in the front but he had quickly told them to split up, he wouldn’t be there to protect them from titans forever after all. 

Now he was flying through the forest by himself and he felt amazing, the feeling of the adrenaline coursing through his veins was truly addictive. 

In the Underground he was used to manoeuvring with no blades, just the grip to control their anchors, so it took him a couple of minutes to get used to the blades. He was just glad nobody saw him nearly chop his own head off when he momentarily forgot about the massive knives he was forced to carry.

Flying in the Underground was exciting but it was dark, the lack of sunlight combined with the grime covering the bricks made their surroundings claustrophobic, it was tricky to swing around in the small streets. However, the forest was so bright it burned his eyes slightly, the wind whipping his face was so refreshing, and he had so much room to move it was so freeing- he felt like a cat let loose from its cage for the first time. One thing that shocked him was the size of the trees, they were fucking huge! In his life the only plant life he’d seen was the odd patch of grass as well as the moss that covered every surface possible. 

As a child the raven heard tales of trees that towered over the titans, his childish mind hadn’t been able to comprehend their size but swerving through them he could truly appreciate how gargantuan they were.

He could feel the six year old in him squealing with excitement.

A shitty looking cardboard cutout of a titan came into view, the nape had what looked like a pillow strapped to it. Levi went to shoot towards it when he saw Farlan come into view, some blonde idiot hot on his heels, but his friend didn’t seem too bothered by his peruser as he sliced through the pillow in one swift motion- he’d never admit it out loud but he was proud he’d picked it up so quickly.

Levi decided to tag along with the two blondes, it didn’t take long for him to overtake the survey corps moron- when he did the idiot was obviously enraged, good.

When another cutout came into view Farlan motioned for the raven to have a go, something he was glad to do. Swinging to the right to line up his shot he was suddenly forced to spin in the air as that bastard blonde shot passed him, his grey eyes widened, that was too close for comfort. The sudden twist caused a twang of pain in his chest, that made him angry- was this moron seriously trying to steal Levi’s ‘kill’? Good job the raven wasn't one to rollover and accept defeat easily, 

Without a second thought he switched both his blades into a reverse grip and lined his shot up perfectly. Anchoring himself to the cardboard was easy, flinging himself forward was easy, the spin he added was tricky and the wind in his ears was almost deafening. The panicked shout from the blonde idiot was satisfying as fuck- after all he did get his revenge by passing the other a bit too close for comfort. Slicing though the pillow was so straight forward to him you’d think he’d been doing it all his life, he decided that second that he loved it.

The cutout remained standing but the fluffy contents of the pillow spilt onto the grass below as the unnamed blonde idiot stood on it panting harshly, Levi merely offered him a dead eyed side glance before he shot further into the forest. He couldn't help but smirk when he heard Farlan whoop behind him.

xXx

They spent the rest of the day training not even stopping for breakfast, something that Isabel made sure to complain about every five seconds. Considering the last time they’d eaten was breakfast the previous morning by the time dinner had arrived even Levi was willing to admit he was hungry, and the mess hall smelt amazing when the trio entered.

It didn’t take long for the staff to fill their plates with hot, steaming food, Isabel’s whole form was thrumming with excited energy whilst they made their way to the seats. It didn’t escape the his attention that the other soldiers scattered around the other tables would send them nervous glances every now and then, he couldn’t blame them, they were just thugs from the Underground after all. So to put everyone else at ease he chose a table away from the others.

Glancing down at his plate made his mouth almost instantly start to water. He had a slice of bread, not a spec of mould in sight, several steaming vegetables, he didn’t know what most of them were, and a slab of some sort of meat. In truth his stomach wanted to consume all the food possible but in reality he knew that would be impossible, he felt a little sick just thinking about his stomach being that full for the first time.

He looked up to see Isabel shovelling the food into her mouth like it was her last meal, or more like her first. On the other hand Farlan was carefully stabbing each piece of food and slowly eating, at least one of them was civilised. Levi decided to wait no longer and followed in the blonde’s footsteps, the warm food making his heart swell slightly.

“So,” Farlan began (Levi prayed he wasn't going to bring the situation up now of all times) “what’s with the weird hold on your blades?” Thank god.

“What about it?” He asked.

“Well like Squad Leader Flagon said, they aren’t designed to be held like that.”

“And like I said, what does it matter if the titan’s neck gets fucked up in the end?” Why were they talking about this? It wasn’t important.

“If you just did it to get on his nerves you need to stop,” oh the cheek of this brat.

“Leave Levi alone Farlan!” Isabel interrupted, crumbs falling from her mouth (disgusting) “if it’s comfier for him then let him to it!”

“Farlan, it is genuinely fucking comfier to hold the damn blades that way sometimes, I don’t know why, so don't even ask,” the raven explained, wanting the conversation to be over already.

“Okay... I just don't want any of us to attract too much attention,” he left it at that thankfully. They finished their meals of with minimal conversation, the only noise being the horrifically loud chewing from Isabel, lovely.

xXx

The barracks were dark that night, but yet again, sleep did not come easily to Levi. For the second night a row he lay there staring at the slats, the creek of bodies moving above him was oddly comforting. He’ll never work out how Isabel wasn’t getting caught staying in the men’s barracks... well technically he shouldn’t be there either but only Farlan knew that.

Closing his eyes only brought the ghostly feeling of hands running along his thighs, so he stubbornly refused to close them, problem solved.

Sighing, the raven quickly realised simply lying there was going to send him insane so he slowly raised from his bunk, tugged on his boots and stalked out of the barracks, leaving the sleeping bodies behind. It was early morning and the hallway was shrouded in darkness, the only light being the moonlight that spilled onto the wall, illuminating the way. The raven knew that if he was caught out of the barracks this late he would be “suitably punished,” whatever the fuck that meant, but he didn’t particularly want to find out. So, he took extra care to move like a cat through the halls.

Eventually, Levi found himself stood on a stone balcony type area overlooking the training fields below. With a sigh he perched himself on the edge of the crenel, feet dangling over the lip of the wall- what idiot thought a castle was a good place as a HQ? It stood out like a sore thumb.

He settled his elbows onto his thighs before digging the palms of his hands into his eyes, soon enough he began to see white spots in the darkness, maybe he rubbed a bit too hard. It was then that he realised that had physically been the easiest day in a while, even though they had been training all day, only stopping for quick water breaks, he hadn’t felt the usual pain running though his torso- apart from when that dickhead blonde had forced him to suddenly twist. But overall it had been a good day, and those were rare.

A part of him reasoned it was because he let Farlan clean the cuts around his underarms however, the child in him wanted to believe it was because he’d told his friend the secret, almost like an emotional weight had been lifted off his chest.

He froze when he heard creak of the door behind him opening, shit, he’d been caught. He tensed, getting ready for a verbal thrashing.

“Hey,” oh thank fuck it was just Farlan, it took every muscle in his body to stop himself grinning in relief. He didn’t reply to the blonde, just nodded to him as he took a seat beside the raven, “Isabel will be hear in a minute” yes, he was about to ask where she was, before he could ask what she was doing the redhead in question burst through the door.

“Hiya guys! Look what I found!” Both men twisted to watch her skip towards them, an expensive looking wine bottle clutched in each hand.

“Okay first off, be quiet you idiot, and second, where’d you get that stuff?” Farlan questioned, Levi was just happy he was as clueless as the blonde. Nevertheless, he took one of the bottles from the girl as she plonked herself down on his other side, the bottle hadn’t even been opened yet.

“Okay first off” she mimicked “everyone’s asleep so does it matter?” Sort of “ and second, nobody’s gonna miss this shit, it was hidden away in some office, nobody will notice it’s missing” Levi only sighed when Farlan stuck his tongue out at her.

“You two are children,” he stated in a flat tone, forcing the cork from the bottle.

“Yeah but you love us for it, right bro?” The raven hid his smile by taking a quick swig of the wine, it was an odd taste and he wasn’t quite sure if he liked it or not, but it tasted alcoholic and that would do for now.

Together the trio stared at the sky above them. Their environment was dark, but a different kind of dark than what they were used to... this was a nice kind of dark. The Underground was always dark no matter the time of day, no matter where you were it was depressingly gloomy. Here however, the sky was covered in an inky blackness with plenty white shining spots sprinkled around, it was truly beautiful.

“What are they?” When they just gave her blank stares Isabel elaborated “the white dots, what are they?”

“I have no idea” Levi mumbled in response, deciding to drink another mouthful of wine.

“When I was a boy, my mother used to tell me tales of lights in the sky up above the Underground” Farlan started, his friend’s full attention on him “she used to say they were tied up by rope, tethered higher than we could ever comprehend, held up higher than the walls themselves, she called them ‘stars,’ and if you managed to catch on in a jar you’d have good luck for the rest of your life,” Levi heard Isabel mutter a faint “wow” next to him.

Nobody commented further, they just continued watching the ‘stars’ twinkle in the sky.

Isabel’s voice cut through the silence,“before you found me I lived in the garbage heaps, which you already know, but I would always hang around with some of the ladies that lived here too. I remember one of them telling me that people with red hair were rare, that I was special,” they see tears in her eyes but neither of they interrupted her “now I look back on it, it wasn’t really true, there’s plenty of people with red hair but when I was small, it made me feel so unique.” finished off by taking a large gulp from her bottle.

It was moments like these that made Levi feel more human, their little heart to hearts was all it took to separate the Underground thug from Levi. His mind snapped back to the morning, he’d promised Farlan that he would tell Isabel... better now than never right? They were only granted so long to be together, death would catch up to them some day and it felt wrong to think of one of them dying without Isabel knowing.

“I have something to say” well shit, that just slipped out before he could even think about it, the wine must have loosened his tongue- it was stronger than the watered down shit they were used to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his blonde companion nod encouragingly.

“What do ya wanna say, bro?” That gave him the push he needed to tell her, without another thought he turned his head and looked the redhead dead in the eyes.

“I...” he swallowed the lump lodged in his throat “was born a girl... but I’m not a girl...” he trailed off, voice wobbling slightly, at some point his gaze had wondered over to the grass below them. His heart felt like it was trapped in his windpipe.

“Okay, so?” Wait... that wasn't what he was expecting.

“What do you mean ‘so’?”

She just smiled at him, her eyes holding a slightly tipsy sheen “what does it matter? You’re still my big bro, I don’t give a shit what you were born as. I met Levi my big bro! So that’s who you are to me, that’s who you’ll always be to me.”

Fuck he wasn't crying, his eyes were just leaking (which he promptly covered up with yet another swig of wine). He couldn't ask for better companions in life really, they’d accepted him for who he was and his heart became warm at the concept. All he did was smile at the horizon with Isabel’s head rested on his shoulder, he ruffled her hair earning a grumpy squeak from her. 

He truly felt at home for the first time in his life, it was amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me in the comments what you think and feel free to leave a Kudo! Xx

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you thought in the comments, I’d love to hear your feedback.
> 
> Next chapter’s on the way x


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